Morgan Bell"Virgin-birth" embryos sidestep stem cell debate
July 3rd 2006 11:11
Research has come up with yet another spankin new solution to the stem-cell debate:"virgin-birth" embryos that are unfertilised by sperm.
The embryos were produced by parthenogenesis, which is a form of asexual reproduction in which eggs can develop into embryos without first being fertilised. The human embryonic stem cells produced are capable of differentiating into neurons and can be put to therapeutic use while avoiding the controversy revolving around using embryos that may yield life.
"This is the first example I have seen of this in humans, and it is potentially very exciting," said Alan Trounson, an expert in the field of stem cell research at Monash University in Clayton, Australia, to the New Scientist. "It could be a source of embryonic stem cells that's not embryonic in the conventional sense."
There is yet more work to be done in proving that the cells produced are in fact embryonic stem cells, since they do not display all the characteristics expected.
What is all the fuss about anyway?
Does a possibly risky technology truly sidestep the big debate, or have we just found a loophole in the moral system?
The embryos were produced by parthenogenesis, which is a form of asexual reproduction in which eggs can develop into embryos without first being fertilised. The human embryonic stem cells produced are capable of differentiating into neurons and can be put to therapeutic use while avoiding the controversy revolving around using embryos that may yield life.
"This is the first example I have seen of this in humans, and it is potentially very exciting," said Alan Trounson, an expert in the field of stem cell research at Monash University in Clayton, Australia, to the New Scientist. "It could be a source of embryonic stem cells that's not embryonic in the conventional sense."
There is yet more work to be done in proving that the cells produced are in fact embryonic stem cells, since they do not display all the characteristics expected.
What is all the fuss about anyway?
Does a possibly risky technology truly sidestep the big debate, or have we just found a loophole in the moral system?
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